


we'll be okay in the end

by lilhawkeye3



Series: Shifting Sands [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Boba Fett Needs A Hug, F/M, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, M/M, Other, Set during Chapter 16: The Rescue, gender neutral reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:07:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28208043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilhawkeye3/pseuds/lilhawkeye3
Summary: Spoilers for Chapter 16: The RescueBoba Fett returns to retrieve you before the dark troopers are arrived, and is trapped in the cockpit with you as you wait to make your last stand.
Relationships: Boba Fett & You, Boba Fett/Reader
Series: Shifting Sands [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2071263
Comments: 8
Kudos: 89





	we'll be okay in the end

**Author's Note:**

> this isn’t the Boba fic I’ve been promising, but that fic will be a prequel to this one-shot. I’m posting this as a present to myself 🥳

“Boba?” He’d maneuvered himself in front of you the moment the pounding on the blast doors started and, and you slowly reach forward to wrap your fingers around his wrist where it’s dangling at his side. His other arm doesn’t flinch from where he points his blaster at the door as you slide your fingers down to clasp at his.

“Yeah, little one?” He rumbles lowly, tilting his head towards you but not pulling his gaze away from the doors.

“You’re it for me, you know that?” You bite your lip and try to be strong and silent like the rest of the warriors in the room. You’re a good shot, but you know they’re on a whole other level than you. 

His gloved fingers coax yours apart and entwine with them. “It isn’t over yet,  _ cyare _ .”

“Boba,” you plead slightly.

“I know,” he adds in a quieter tone, just for you to hear. “I know.”

You suck in sharp breath when his fingers squeeze yours, but the action gives you enough resolve to raise your blaster towards your impending doom. You all know there’s no way out of this fate. As much as Boba’s grumbled about Djarin, you know how truly impressed he’s been with the man and that if he couldn’t handle one of these dark troopers, none of you could.

The beeping of one of the radar alarms goes off, and all your attention turns towards it.

“An X-wing,” Reeves identifies, her voice tinged with confusion.

Cara huffs in derision. “One X-wing? Great. We’re saved.”

Part of you agrees, and yet, one X-wing is better than nothing. Maybe they’ll end you before the dark troopers can.

You tighten your hold on him, clinging to the bit of comfort his presence always brings you as you ready your finger on the trigger. And then… the booming stops.

“Why did they stop?” Fennec mutters.

At first, there’s nothing to tell what may be the reason the dark troopers have stopped their assault. The X-wing hasn’t fired on the ship at all, and none of you have moved, but then you all see what’s on the screen.

You can feel KRyze’s exclamation cause Boba to tense next to you. “A Jedi?” You know what happened to Boba at the hands of a Jedi, and you press yourself against his side to try and help in the only way you currently can.

The figure on the screen is holding a bright object in their hands that causes a bit of white static around it– a lightsaber. It slices through the droids like butter. You’re in awe at the power they wield as they continue their path of destruction without breaking a sweat. 

It terrifies you, too. As skilled as Boba is, as everyone around you is… none of you could stand a chance against someone who can crush a droid without touching them.

Before you can even process what’s happening, Boba is pulling you behind his back and holding you firmly against him as shots ring out through the cockpit. He’s already aimed his blaster at Moff Gideon and is attempting to distract his fire away from Reeves when you see an opening you can take.

It’s a good thing that Gideon’s only wanted alive and not unscathed, because the shot you take hits him in the lower leg and he cries out in pain.

Boba turns fully to look at you as the others deal with subduing the Imp once more. Despite his helmet blocking his face, you can tell he’s raising his brow and seeking an answer for your action. You merely toss him a wink in response and can see his shoulders lightly as he chuckles. 

But then a movement out of the corner of your eye catches your attention, and you find the small child moving to press his hand against one of the screens, now showing the Jedi nearer to your location. The downward dip to Boba’s head reveals a silent sigh on his part.

“It’ll be okay,” you whisper, knowing he could hear you.

This time, he lets his fingers brush against yours.

The Jedi takes down the droids in the hall leading to you with a brutal efficiency. Pieces of scrap are left behind them as they go through the troopers one by one, and the sound of metal shearing makes you instinctively want to flinch. You bury the urge. You have to stay strong in the face of Boba’s greatest fear.

When the sound of battle stops, Djarin speaks. “Open the doors.” Nobody moves. “I said, open the doors.”

“Well, I’m not going to do it,” Boba laughs darkly just as Fennec hisses, “Are you crazy?!”

Your feet are firmly planted beside Boba’s, Cara and Kryze are still keeping watch over Gideon, and Reeves has moved over to the control board to hold herself up– she’s probably got bruised ribs, or maybe cracked. You make a note to check on her later.

Djarin takes the initiative himself and heads over to the control panel, presses a button, and you all turn to watch as the doors slide open to let in a cloud of smoke. A gleaming green light guts through the haze and illuminates a black silhouette, and you can see that Boba’s begun to tighten his grip on his blaster once more. The person steps forward and into the room before turning the humming weapon off, then reaching up to take the heavy hood off their head to reveal a young, blond male.

And then all hell breaks loose

Boba snarls as he stalks forward with his blaster raised, and you dart after him while calling out his name repeatedly. He shakes you off and pushes forward in front of Djarin, ready to shoot the Jedi point blank. The blond’s eyes widen and he takes a step back, but to his credit doesn’t reactivate his lightsaber.

_ He doesn’t need to,  _ a little voice in your head reminds you.  _ He can kill you all now without even touching you. _

“Fett, what are you doing?” Djarin snaps, moving nearer to his son.

“Boba, please!” You try desperately. “You can’t kill him, he just saved us.”

Boba doesn’t take his gaze off of him as he growls. “ _ He’s _ the guy.”

You freeze and swivel your gaze between Boba and the Jedi, your eyes catching Fennec’s over Boba’s shoulder. Her jaw is clenched worriedly, but you know she’s got your back.

“He’s _the_ guy?” You echo back. 

Boba hums in confirmation.

You drop your hands from his shoulders and slowly move behind Boba. “Never mind then,” you say calmly, patting his shoulder in approval.

A scoff comes from behind you somewhere. “You’re just gonna let him kill the guy who just saved us?” Cara asks incredulously without moving, her gun still trained on the Imp.

You shoot her a withering glare. “I don’t put him on a leash. He’s a big boy.”

Reeves’ mutter is audible from across the room. “You don’t say.”

Kryze laughs, surprisingly without a sneer, though that was probably due to how interesting the situation is. “Haven’t you heard the rumors, about how a Jedi tossed Fett into a sarlacc pit?”

That was not the best thing to say with an enraged Fett in the room, and for a moment you’re convinced that he’s going to pull the trigger. “Thanks for the reminder,  _ princess _ .” 

“Boba Fett,” the Jedi says flatly. “Nice to see you again.”

“Go kark yourself, Skywalker.”

“I’ll take it into consideration.”

“Better do it fast while I'm considering whether or not to kill you,  _ jetii _ .”

“Fett, stop.” Djarin finally steps forward and between them. “If he’s a Jedi, then Grogu was searching for him on Typhon.” He pauses, and you almost laugh at the incredulous situation. “You  _ are  _ a Jedi?”

Skywalker raises his eyebrows in slight confusion but still answers. “Yes, I am.”

“So you can train him?”

“Yes, I came to take him for training,” Skywalker nods. “I felt him when he called out through the Force.”

The child seems to agree with his statement as he coos cheerfully, so at least that sets you a bit more at ease. What you find strange is that he doesn’t move from the seat Djarin placed him in.

Djarin notices this too and turns back to the Jedi, shoulders tense. “He doesn’t want to go with you.”

“Smart kid,” Boba rumbles.

“Fett,” Djarin snaps again, this time actually pivoting to glare back at him. “Not now.”

“He left me to die in a sarlacc!” Boba spits, his fingers tightening around his blaster even more as he leans forwards threateningly. “Do you know what that’s like, feeling the acid eat away at your skin from all around you with no end in sight?”

You can tell his words have some sort of effect on Skywalker, because his mouth hardens into a thin line as he grimaces. “You were helping protect Jabba.”

“And you were there to save Han Solo. Ever read up on his history?” Boba taunted. “Not as innocent as you’d like to think.”

You can see Djarin’s frame growing stiffer with each passing insult thrown, and you know that this squabble is the last thing he needs right now, while being faced with the loss of his son to a stranger so soon after getting him back.

And you love Boba, you know how he suffered and how he still is, and you want him to get some sort of reprieve from this pain…

But then you look back at the little green child you’d all come here to save, and you know that you all have to do what’s best for him.

“Boba.” You cautiously but determinedly place yourself between Boba’s gun and Djarin from where he’s still blocking Skywalker from a direct shot. Boba’s helmet only moves slightly, but it’s enough to let you know that he’s listening. You gently put a palm against his chest plate– not his arm– knowing he needs to make the decision himself. “The child comes first.”

He’s silent for several long moments, and as the seconds tick by, you become afraid that he might escalate the situation. But then his free hand comes up to cover yours where it’s against his cool beskar, and he lowers his blaster with a huff.

“The child comes first,” he murmurs in agreement.

He’ll be okay in the end. You know he will. And yet, you can’t help the tear that slips free of your eye as you lead him to stand back and away: one son mourning the losses brought to him by the Jedi as another son loses his father to the same group.

You avert your eyes when Djarin removes his helmet to say goodbye to his son, and your change in positioning allows Boba to catch sight of your tears. You feel his sigh more than hear it before he tilts your chin up and brushes the wet tracks away with his gloved thumb.

“We’re okay, little one,” he tells you softly. “We’re okay.”

You nod and give him a shaky yet true smile. “We’ll be okay.”


End file.
